Sara Deniz Akant is the author of Babette, selected by Maggie Nelson for the Rescue Press Black Box Poetry Prize, as well as Parades (Omnidawn, 2014) and Latronic Strag (Persistent Editions, 2015). Her work has been recognized with fellowships from Yaddo, MacDowell, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and has appeared most recently in The Brooklyn Rail, The Denver Quarterly, jubilat, and Lana Turner. Akant has taught poetry and writing at the University of Iowa and the City University of New York.

The night also featured a reading by Jessica Laser and a musical performance by Dijwar Karaman.